The protection from over-currents in power devices such as a switching DC-DC PWM converter power stage is highly desirable. Typical current sensing and protection devices in switching DC-DC PWM converter power stages normally uses either high-side over-current protection or low-side over-current protection. In most devices the use of high-side over-current protection is the only type of protection available. Low-side over-current protection while implemented in some multi-phase systems is not implemented within single phase parts, such as a DC-DC PWM converter power stage. When only high-side or low-side over-current protection is provided, over-current detection can be lost at either the high or low duty cycles depending on whether high-side or low-side detection is used. Furthermore, both low-side sinking and sourcing over-current protection are not provided in existing low-side over-current detection schemes.
It is also desirable to have DC-DC PWM converter power stages that are operable over a wide voltage range. However, existing devices of this type, when capable of operating over a wide voltage range such as 3V to 20V, will tend to have high offsets. When parts are designed having lower offsets, they are incapable of operating over a wider range of voltages. Thus, a voltage converter overcoming these limitations of the prior art will be of great benefit to DC-DC PWM converter designs.